“She has always been skilled at making plans.”
Anne smiled.
“It seems, without intending it, she has passed that skill on to me as well.”
“Anne, tell me plainly what you have to say,” he pleaded. “Let us not prolong this.”
He felt it would not be quickly done.
“When you proposed to me, I could hardly believe it…”
He stared at her. She spoke of the event as if marriage had been a stroke of luck—without regard to the man himself.
“For a long time, I have tried to find a way to escape my mother’s control.”
“And you have. She will have no power over you here. You are safe with me.”
“I know, and I am grateful…and I am sorry for what I must say. I accepted your proposal only to be free of her”—she hesitated—“not to be your wife.”
Darcy rose abruptly. At the movement, Anne flinched, raising her hands slightly, as if to protect herself. The gesture struck him at once.
“Be calm,” he said quickly. “You are safe. Nothing will happen to you here. Only tell me what you mean.”
His unease deepened. Anne hesitated, then forced herself to go on.
“I had no hope of having a life of my own. So I decided to leave my mother…to run away, with only what I could gather over the past year.”
“Run away? Where?”
“I was not alone. Mrs Jenkinson helped me. She had some money as well.”
“Anne—please—stop a moment. Here, with me, you are safe. Why should it be so difficult to begin a new life—a good one? We could have a happy home, children…we need never see your mother again.”
“That can never be. She would always find a way to interfere. But that is not the point. I agree it could be a pleasant life—but I do not wish to be your wife.”
A deep silence filled the room. The house itself seemed unusually still. Only then did Darcy notice the absence of its usual sounds.
“I do not understand,” he said at last. “I did not marry you for show. I want a real marriage—a home, children, a place in society. I have been completely honest with you.”
“And I thank you for that. You were honest. But you do not love me.”
“You are my cousin. Of course I care for you.”
“You know that is not what I mean. Let me tell you everything, and then you may decide what to do. Mrs Jenkinson and I had planned to go to America.”
“What are you saying, Anne?”
“Yes. Nearly a year ago. We prepared papers to travel as mother and daughter. In Philadelphia, one of her brothers would receive us.”
Darcy sank into a chair. It felt unreal.
“And if I had not proposed…?”
“We would most likely have gone already.”
“Then why marry me, if everything had already been decided?”
“When we chose to leave, I was prepared to lose my fortune. By my father’s will, I held the whole only if both my mother and Lord Matlock approved of my marriage; otherwise, the greater part would pass, upon Lady Catherine’s death, to Sir Lewis’s nephews—the eldest inheriting Rosings—while I would be left with a comparatively modest income.”
